“I had a band called Infectious Grooves back in the Nineties. That musi...” — Robert Trujillo Quote

I had a band called Infectious Grooves back in the Nineties. That music was really a mixture of styles, and we had some stuff that was punk rock, ska, but then we had a lot of funk in there.

You want your fanbase and new fans too, to embrace the music, the new music.

Traditionally, the role of the bass player was just to keep things simple and solid, so it's really a special thing when you can get a player that can actually bring in a lot of presence and also a visual presence, too.

What I have learned about Metallica is that it's all about taking chances and challenges.

I've played with the best drummers in rock, ranging from Josh Freese to Brooks Wackerman to even Dave Lombardo.

But the idea of taking things and mixing them together is what I do in my music. I take hip-hop, R&B, pop, dance, funk and soul and mix it all together to get my own sound.

Funk is part of who I am.

When you scratch the soul of hip-hop, you find R&B and funk but also reggae.

I've pinched things from people I look up to, of course, like Roddy Piper, and CM Punk, and Terry Funk, those guys who I love, so of course it's going to happen.

I love jazz and funk, because it's hard. If it's not hard, it's not worth doing.